Synopsis
For fans of The Midnight Library and Swamplandia! comes a breathtaking story of magical realism about two sisters, deeply tied to their small Southern town, fighting to break free of the darkness swallowing the land―and its endless cycle of pecan harvests―whole. In the struggling town of Clearwater, Arkansas, the annual pecan harvest is a time of both celebration and heartbreak. But even as families are forced to sell their orchards and move away, Lil Clearwater refuses to let go of the land her family has been rooted to for generations. She feels a connection to the earth that goes deeper than memory―which is why she reluctantly accepts her sister Sasha's return to the fold after so long away. It should be a time of joyful reconnection, yet it isn't long before things take a dark turn. There is rot hiding beneath the surface, and hungry eyes that watch from the dark. As phantom fires begin to light up the night and troubling local folklore is revealed to be all too true, the sisters―confronted with the ghosts of their pasts―come to the stark realization that in the kudzu-choked South, nothing is ever as it seems.
Format 352 pages, Paperback
Published June 4, 2024 by Sourcebooks Landmark
ISBN 9781728263908 (ISBN10: 1728263905)
Genre Horror, Fantasy, Magical Realism
About the Author
Quinn Connor is one pen in two hands, Robyn Barrow and Alex Cronin.
Both writers from a young age, Robyn and Alex met at Rhodes College in Memphis and together developed their unique co-writing voice. They are thankful that no matter what, there’s always another person in the world who cares about their characters as much as they do. An Arkansan and a Texan, when they aren’t writing, they’re arguing about the differences between queso and cheese dip.
Robyn is an art historian of the medieval Nordic world, and a PhD candidate at the University of Pennsylvania. Though often abroad, clambering around in medieval church roofs, Robyn loves writing about her home state of Arkansas. Alex is a Texan living under a Brooklyn zip code, working in PR to fund her writing habit. In her free time, she can be found exploring the city, topping off her tea, and amassing a collection of winter coats. Whether Robyn is wandering the Far North, or Alex is chasing down homemade pasta in Prospect Heights, they write all the time. It’s their preferred form of conversation.
Follow the author on Twitter @quinnconnorwrites
Instagram @quinn.connor.writes/
My Thoughts
A screech shreds the delicate membrane of the night.
The Pecan Children is a wistful tale of a dying town, the sister tied to it and the one who escaped only to return. This story centers around the pecan orchards in the town of Clearwater, Arkansas.
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Clearwater is a dying town, cutoff from the rest of the world when the main road washed out. The old pecan orchards are being bought up and dying off, and the town with them.
Clearwater Orchard is run by Lil Clearwater, one of a set of twins born to a woman who raised them as a single mother while dedicating her life to caring for the family orchard. Lil inherited the obligation of orchard keeper while her twin sister Sasha escaped the small town for New York City. Lil is tied to the land. She nurtures it.
As a teenager, Lil liked falling asleep outside, under the shade of tall trees. When she hit her teenage years-- and her teenage years hit back-- when the inside of the house felt too tame and soft for her sharp edges, Lil would spread out a blanket under the trees, where she was finally able to breathe...curled against the roots of those trees, it was as if she grew roots of her own. She felt right within herself among the trees.
Now, years later, Sasha has returned to Clearwater after the death of their mother. Sasha describes herself as "the lesbian-- outsider twin sister of the town's foremost orchard keeper".
You are so beautiful, as soon as I stop looking at you, I forget what you look like, her great-aunt told her once. Her and Lil's faces are similar, but Sasha's features are more catalog-girl generic, which means people usually feel a little more comfortable looking at her. Then they mistake her for the friendly sister, next to Lil, who stomped her way through high school with rips in her jeans and a silver barbell piercing her tongue. But to be honest, neither of them is too friendly.
The two sisters have been at odds for some time and struggle under the yoke of resentment and long-buried pain and anger. But the love is there, and they are struggling to find their way back to one another.
It's a stone in her shoe, a constant, quiet ache. But Lil is too sharp even at the best of times, too prone to passion, and Sasha too untethered. In an argument, Sasha won't fight. She'll flee. At least, she reminds herself, Sasha is here. That's all she needs.
In addition to her long-lost sister, Liv finds that her long-lost high school love has also returned to town. Jason and Lil were an item throughout high school, but Jason left town after Lil refused to leave with him. His presence takes Lil right back to those passionate and carefree days with Jason.
In summer, his hair brightens to the color of a crisp lemon. It's like he absorbs energy straight from the sun, and there on her porch, he glows with it.
Creepy Theon lurks around town, buying up orchards and letting them die.
Used to care, suddenly deprived, maybe it takes time for land to remember it is meant to be wild.
Theon to me represented greed and progress. How little towns can't hold out forever against "progress" and those looking to make a buck at all costs, and the people who suffer in the name of Progress. Progress is always lurking, waiting to leap when it detects vulnerability, and the old way of life is killed off and lies in its wake.
Lil and Jason join forces to try and revive the town by reviving the town's Pecan Festival. They work closely on it and for the first time in a long time Lil finds herself excited about something and even neglects the orchard a little while focusing on something outside of the orchard for a change.
While Lil is busy with Jason, Sasha is busy with odd jobs around town and running the town ferry boat, which is the only way in and out of town since the road washed out...how long has the road been washed out now? No one can seem to remember. And then Sasha learns that her childhood best friend Autumn has returned to town. Old friendships are rekindled, old loves still smolder, and the sisters find themselves settling into their tethers with a newfound happiness.
For the first half-dozen chapters, it felt as though each sister was written by a different author. I liked the authoring of Lil better. The prose flowed effortlessly. For Sasha, the writing was somewhat stilted and more ungainly. I often found myself rereading Sasha's chapters to grasp what was being said. This became less of an issue as time went on. Perhaps the authors improved and became less stilted, or perhaps I just got used to it. (I say "authors" because I looked up the "author" to discover that Quinn Connor is actually a pen name for two authors: Robyn Barrow and Alex Cronin. When I read this, the different writing styles suddenly made sense. But like I said, for whatever reason, I didn't really notice it as the book went on.)
I enjoyed the authors use of alternating perspectives of Lil and Sasha and seeing things through the eyes of each twin. The writing is very atmospheric. The orchards are alive, the environment another lifeform-- another character in the story.
Five words: unusual, peculiar, confusing, mystifying, moody
How it made me feel: wistful
Buy Now:
My final word: The first two paragraphs grated on me-- they felt contrived. But the authors won me over with their lyrical prose as I continued on.
Clearwater is a place frozen in time where nothing changes. Homesteads, people, places all the same even after decades. I love the imagery evoked throughout this story and the writing style. Lyrical and moody, it uses atmosphere very effectively.
But in the end, the crazy, fantastical story got the best of me. I just didn't enjoy the last third, nor did I really care about it or the characters at that point. It was too dark, dreary, and contrived, and I had a hard time following the different threads and making sense of it. Very much a goth feel to it, and I guess that I'm just not really a goth girl.
Warnings:
Some disturbing imagery with children, mild violence, mild sexual situations
Cover: 4 stars
Writing Style: 4 stars
Characters: 4 stars
Storyline/Plot: 3 stars
Interest/Uniqueness: 3.5 stars
Rating:
The Cerebral Girl is a middle-aged blogger just digging her way out from under a mountain of books in the deep south of Florida.
I received a copy of this book to review through Book Browse and the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not financially compensated in any way, and the opinions expressed are my own and based on my observations while reading this novel. The book that I received was an uncorrected proof, and quotes could differ from the final release.
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